Dylan Ratigan, a Democrat, has entered the race in the 21st Congressional District in upstate. (Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images)

ALBANY — Former CNBC and MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan announced Wednesday he's running for Congress in upstate New York — and it'll be a voting first for him.

Ratigan, a 45-year-old Democrat, confessed during his campaign kickoff in Saranac Lake that he's never before cast a ballot in an election.

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"I have never voted in my life," he said. "I thought that the two choices that are available to me don't reflect the potential leadership of this country and it disgusts me. And I said I am going to use all of my efforts to be a great journalist and a great businessman."

Ratigan added that as he "watched the political process unfold in front me, I was stunned by the lack of seriousness in our government," and that he eventually decided to run for Congress.

The Saranac Lake native is running to unseat two-term Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik in the 21st Congressional District, which stretches across the Adirondacks and far northern New York State.

Republicans were quick to seize on Ratigan's voting record.

"It's only fitting that Dylan Ratigan would move from New York City and the first vote he casts will be for himself," the National Republican Campaign Committee said in a statement. "He's a liberal talking head with no voting record, and now he's running for Congress in a desperate grasp for relevance."

Stefanik is considered a GOP rising star, and the district skews Republican, with 178,359 registered GOP voters compared with 128,562 registered Democrats, according to state Board of Election figures.

Ratigan believes his hometown roots and experience as a businessman and journalist will carry his candidacy.

"At the end of the day, I will be running as Dylan Ratigan from Saranac for every single person in the district," Ratigan said.

Ratigan hosted the CNBC show "Fast Money" before moving to MSNBC and hosting "The Dylan Ratigan." He left the network in 2012.